Rabbi's Message
Rabbi Galperin became the rabbi at Congregation Shaarey Zedek in June, 2009. He brings to our synagogue the youthful vigour and passionate beliefs of the Chabad movement. Rabbi Galperin is available to officiate at weddings, bar/bat mitzvahs, funerals and other life events.
What Pesach means to Canadians.
A central theme of this holiday is asking questions and providing relevant answers so that children will understand the significance of this celebration. I, however, find myself asking year-after-year the same question: what meaning does an ancient story and its associated ceremony hold for the average Canadian in 2011? How can we look at events which transpired so long ago and still be spiritually inspired by them?
The answer lies in the Talmudic dictum: In every generation a person must feel as if he or she was liberated from Egypt. In other words, we have a responsibility to make an ancient experience important to us living in modern times. We achieve this by recognizing that the imprisonment from which the ancient Hebrews sought emancipation is conceptually still present.
Slavery finds many forms and takes on various appearances. In days of old, it was depicted by a whip toting task-master hovering over a slave with a chain wrapped around his ankle. Today, bondage is often found in our jobs, relationships and attitudes where we find ourselves addicted to a certain negative trait and find it excruciatingly difficult to "break free". Sometimes we are trapped in a bad relationship with no easy way out. Then there are those who are enslaved to material items and cannot possibly fathom life without them. Are these not the modern-day equivalent of slavery?
Therefore, every year as we begin the holiday of Passover and the celebration of freedom, we are reminded that the stories we recount and the rituals we observe are more about a commitment to the present then reminiscing about the past. During this time of year we once again reaffirm our obligation to fight all forms of bigotry, negativity and slavery, be they within or without. And, most important, we devote ourselves to being positive members of society at a time when we all crave the most priceless blessing of all: peace on earth.
I hope you will join us for our community Seder the 1st night of Passover Monday April 18, 2011 at 8:30PM at the Shaar Hashomayim and have the "Feeling of Home and Inspiration of Community".
Please R.S.V.P. by April 11, 2011.
With best wishes for a healthy and happy Pesach,
Rabbi Sholom Galperin
The answer lies in the Talmudic dictum: In every generation a person must feel as if he or she was liberated from Egypt. In other words, we have a responsibility to make an ancient experience important to us living in modern times. We achieve this by recognizing that the imprisonment from which the ancient Hebrews sought emancipation is conceptually still present.
Slavery finds many forms and takes on various appearances. In days of old, it was depicted by a whip toting task-master hovering over a slave with a chain wrapped around his ankle. Today, bondage is often found in our jobs, relationships and attitudes where we find ourselves addicted to a certain negative trait and find it excruciatingly difficult to "break free". Sometimes we are trapped in a bad relationship with no easy way out. Then there are those who are enslaved to material items and cannot possibly fathom life without them. Are these not the modern-day equivalent of slavery?
Therefore, every year as we begin the holiday of Passover and the celebration of freedom, we are reminded that the stories we recount and the rituals we observe are more about a commitment to the present then reminiscing about the past. During this time of year we once again reaffirm our obligation to fight all forms of bigotry, negativity and slavery, be they within or without. And, most important, we devote ourselves to being positive members of society at a time when we all crave the most priceless blessing of all: peace on earth.
I hope you will join us for our community Seder the 1st night of Passover Monday April 18, 2011 at 8:30PM at the Shaar Hashomayim and have the "Feeling of Home and Inspiration of Community".
Please R.S.V.P. by April 11, 2011.
With best wishes for a healthy and happy Pesach,
Rabbi Sholom Galperin
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